Executive Communication
Why Mastering How You Communicate With Executives Matters
As you advance in your career, you will have to interact with more senior leaders. While they have the influence and authority you need to get things done, their time and attention are limited, so you need to make the most of your conversations. They will rely on you to distill complex information into clear insights. Therefore, you have to understand how to craft concise, compelling narratives that drive critical actions. When you recognize the nuances of executive communication you can produce greater results and even transform your career trajectory.
What’s Different About Executive Communication
As a team leader, you may know exactly how your team’s efforts connect to business goals. However, as the teams you manage grow bigger (both in size and number), you often have less visibility into what’s really going on. Most executives have to operate at this level, without intimate knowledge of each team’s work. They are often involved in multiple projects and responsible for multiple teams, functions, and/or departments. Therefore, when you engage them, your message needs to be clear and actionable. However, most of our updates tend to be task-related - what was done, what’s in progress, and what’s planned. While this information can be useful, it does not necessarily indicate how things are really going. A blunt assessment (including the issues, constraints, needs, etc.) is often more helpful. This lets the executive know what actions need to be taken to support, accelerate, or unblock the work.
How To Communicate With Executives
Prepare For The Conversation
Frame your message based on the executives involved.
Understand the executive’s priorities.
Executives think in terms of strategy, risk, and outcomes. Their focus is on larger, long-term goals. They need information that helps them make high-stakes decisions quickly. However, each executive will want to hear about different things. Therefore, before meeting with an executive, you need to understand their needs: What is their primary concern” Is it resource usage, customer satisfaction, cost, etc.? Frame your message around strategic goals and objectives that matter to them. Some may value details, while others might want brevity. You have to adjust the pace, tone, and details as necessary.
Anticipate where you might face pushback.
Executives will come at you with questions, concerns, and skepticism. They will challenge you to back up your claims, especially if they contradict their understanding of the product, the business, or the market. To prepare for this, you have to first put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Identify what specific ideas they might be resistant to, what questions are they likely to have, what objections have they raised in the past, etc. You have to anticipate their responses and be ready with answers, supporting information, and a strategy to talk about “difficult” topics.
Start With The Conclusion
Highlight the main takeaway upfront to establish the purpose of the conversation.
”We need approval/clarification/resources from you to do XYZ”
Begin the conversation with the main thing the executive needs to know before diving into the details. This is often referred to as Bottom-Line Up-First (BLUF) or the Minto Pyramid Principle. You have to be specific about what you need from them. This immediately tells them why you are having the conversation (taking an action, making a decision, etc.) and puts your message in context. It also allows them to listen for the right information, connect the dots, and assess what they can do for you.
Provide Context
Provide the right context to support your main point.
“Here’s what’s happening, what’s going well/poorly, why this matters…”
Decide what to share.
One of the tough decisions you have to make is “How much context should I provide?” We tend to provide a lot of unnecessary context. This often happens when we are processing information as we are sharing it. Our brains are sifting through what is and is not important in real-time, resulting in us including irrelevant details. However, you want to ensure you provide specific, relevant details to your executives. It’s fine to take a moment to consider what they might need to know. Some situations require a lot of context, and oversimplifying things will just cause more problems down the line. Length is fine as long as it adds value.
Support your message with data.
Data helps support your points, adding weight and credibility. Data can quickly and effectively illustrate complex ideas. Executives also trust numbers because they are objective. Gather the right data that matters to them. If you lack hard data (metrics, statistics, etc.), use quantitative data (user observations, customer feedback, etc.). You have to effectively weave the data into a narrative that explains what it means and why it matters. This makes your message more tangible, compelling, and persuasive.
Offer to elaborate on relevant topics.
After sharing your message, give your audience a chance to get the context they might need. When you offer to elaborate, it’s helpful to mention things your stakeholder is likely to have questions or concerns about — I can elaborate on areas XYZ if you would like. This gives them options for where to start the conversation. They may want to understand your rationale, thought process, evaluation criteria, assumptions, etc. to understand how you arrived at your conclusion (a recommendation, an ask, etc.).
Clarify The Action Plan
Clearly outline the path forward.
“Once we get approval/clarification/resources, we plan to do the following…”
At the end of the conversation, you must clearly state what you specifically need from the executive and what you plan to do. If you are having a real-time discussion (call, meeting, etc.), summarize some of the key points you mentioned. It is also helpful to follow up with them, ideally in a written format (message, email, etc.), with a more detailed plan of action, along with details such as timelines, deliverables, resource requirements, etc. This helps confirm and clarify what you have agreed upon together.
Master The Delivery
The success of executive communication lies in how you deliver your message.
Use simple, clear language.
We have to make our message as simple as possible while amplifying its meaning. The goal is not necessarily saying less but saying the right things. You have to ensure the other person understands the significance of what you are saying. When explaining something complex, avoid jargon unless necessary, and when you do use it, make sure everyone understands it. Use clear, business-oriented language that all stakeholders understand. This ensures that people do not miss the core points. The clearer we are, the less room there is for confusion and misunderstandings.
Manage resistance and conflict.
Conflict is always a possibility. However, it’s often more useful to approach conflict as an opportunity to understand what the other person specifically disagrees with and what might be driving this resistance. You may have failed to consider or understand something they care about something. There may be a misalignment regarding goals, progress, execution, expectations, etc. You also have to first acknowledge their concerns before you can find a solution that works for everyone. They will be more open to listening when they feel they have been heard.
Use signposting to guide the conversation.
In conversations, it’s easy to lose track of what has been discussed especially when there are multiple topics. Therefore, you have to use language that gets people’s attention and tells them where they are in the story. Signposting means giving your audience a verbal cue that helps them follow and process your message. In written communication (reports, presentations, etc.), you do this by explicitly breaking down content into logical sections (introduction, methodology, conclusion, etc.). We can use similar tactics in verbal conversations by using phrasing to introduce structure, helping people keep up with the discussion.
Examples of phrases to use when signposting
Here’s what we’re going to cover…
We took the following actions…
The result/outcome was…
What we learned was…
We need…
Why Executive Communication Matters
It improves alignment between individual, team, and organizational efforts.
Executives set the strategic vision for an organization. They depend on team leaders to provide clarity on progress, challenges, and opportunities. If these leaders fail to communicate effectively, teams can drift in different directions, leading to wasted resources, conflicting priorities, and missed opportunities. It also leads to decisions being made on incomplete information. Clear and consistent communication ensures that every initiative supports the company’s larger objectives. It ensures teams can execute without unnecessary back-and-forth. This efficiency enables operate more effectively, make better decisions, and improve overall productivity.
It strengthens relationships between executives and teams.
Every conversation is an opportunity to demonstrate you understand what your executives care about and prove that you can be trusted to deliver. However, this relationship is not one-sided. Stakeholders want you to be successful. They have the expertise, authority, and influence needed to help you in tough situations. They can only do this if you are honest about how things are really going. They trust that you know the details, but this trust is earned. Regular, transparent updates help build credibility and foster long-term relationships that benefit everyone.
Conclusion
As you advance in your careers, you have to zoom out from your team’s efforts and learn to see the bigger picture. While you inevitably have to get better at communicating with people at all levels of the organization, mastering executive communication often has a disproportionate impact because executives can pull on more levers to get things done. Therefore, developing the specific skills needed to work with them can transform how you work and increase your odds of success.
Thanks For Reading
References
Personal Math With Greg & Taylor | How to add 10 years to your professional age
Think Fast Talk Smart | Between the Lines: In Storytelling, Simplify to Amplify
Think Fast Talk Smart | Advice from Nontraditional Storytellers
Wes Kao's Newsletter | How I give the right amount of context (in any situation)